


Essence of the Spirit

by phantomhivemast3r



Category: Bartimaeus - Jonathan Stroud, Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Alternate Ptolemy's Gate Ending, Crossover, Gen, Post-Ptolemy's Gate, Post-The Creeping Shadow, Pre-The Empty Grave, Relationships are there if you squint, Relationships not the main focus, Supernatural world meets magical beings, everyone needs to learn to get along
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:22:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25476073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomhivemast3r/pseuds/phantomhivemast3r
Summary: During an assignment in the government archives, Nathaniel, Bartimaeus, and Kitty come across a scrying glass that’s a portal to another world—a world where Spirits aren’t made of magic and essence, but are the sorrowful souls of those dearly departed. However, before Nathaniel and Kitty can enlist the help of Lockwood and Co. to get home, they must convince the ghost-hunters they mean no harm—a task made difficult when it comes to the obviously unhuman Bartimaeus at their side.
Relationships: Kitty Jones/Nathaniel, Lucy Carlyle/Anthony Lockwood
Comments: 14
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a crossover I've been working on for quite a while, and I'm excited to finally share it! A few notes before you get started reading: This takes place in a "Nathaniel Lives" alternate ending to Ptolemy's Gate, meaning that Nathaniel survived the battle with Nouda. It's been a few years since then, so Nathaniel and Kitty are meant to be about 19-21 in this fic. Lockwood & Co. are fresh off the events of The Creeping Shadow when this fic takes place, but haven't been through the events of The Empty Grave. I love trying to combine the worlds of Jonathan Stroud, and I hope you enjoy reading this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Nathaniel shivered and crossed his arms tightly. His sweater did little to stave off the cold in the government vaults, and he’d been down there for hours.

“Ooh, it _does_ feel a bit nippy in here, doesn’t it?”

Nathaniel glanced to his left and found Bartimaeus pretending to shiver along with him, wearing a puffy jacket so big it nearly swallowed up Ptolemy's small frame serving as the djinni’s current guise. The magician rolled his eyes, knowing perfectly well Bartimaeus wasn’t bothered by this insignificant amount of cold.

Bartimaeus met Nathaniel’s gaze and grinned. “Want me to light a fire? It would make the room nice and toasty!”

“Yes, and burn us all up in the process,” Kitty snapped from Nathaniel’s other side. She was bent over a large wooden box, busying herself with sifting through various items of unknown magical origin. She paused momentarily to glare at the djinni. “With all the documents in this stuffy room, one spark would light the whole place up in seconds.”

“No need to get tetchy; it was merely a suggestion!” Bartimaeus responded, sounding offended, making the puffy jacket disappear with a wave of his hand to reveal the jeans and grey t-shirt he’d dubbed his “modern” outfit underneath.

“It was a bad one, and you know it.” Kitty went back to rummaging around in the box. “Can either of you make yourselves useful and help me find this stupid thing? Nathaniel, remind me what we’re even looking for again?”

“Um, let me check,” Nathaniel replied, uncrossing his arms and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out an index card and read, “’A small, rounded grey disc.’ Be careful rooting around for it, though; supposedly those who have touched disc have… ‘disappeared?’” Nathaniel frowned. “If that’s the case, I don’t know why they’d leave it at the bottom of a box, lumped in with a bunch of other magical artifacts…”

“Why do humans make _any_ of the decisions that they do?” Bartimaeus mused. He sighed dramatically, shaking his head. “5,000 years coming and going from this dreadful Earth, and I still haven’t the faintest idea.”

Nathaniel pointedly ignored him, silently reading over the index card again.

Two years after the Makepeace Incident, as the attempted overthrow of the government and subsequent near-takeover by magical spirits had become known, Nathaniel was fully resituated into his job as Information Minister. Once he’d recovered from his miraculous survival, there was talk of him moving up in the ranks, and even mention of him taking on the role of Prime Minister someday. But after everything he’d been through, Nathaniel realized he truly _didn’t_ want the immeasurable power that came with leading an entire country. All he wanted was to have a stable job that kept him busy, with his newfound companion Kitty by his side.

Nathaniel never planned to see Bartimaeus again, figuring that after all the djinni had done for him and the world, he deserved a long rest. But, to his surprise, the time they spent bonded together (not to mention Kitty’s visit to the Other Place) had sparked a strange desire for Bartimaeus to _want_ companionship from the two of them. Of course, until a way to freely move back and forth from the Other Place was discovered, Bartimaeus could only visit through a Summoning. So, the djinni agreed to be occasionally summoned to Earth by his familiar master under the strict condition that Nathaniel would release Bartimaeus whenever he wished.

This arrangement suited everyone just fine. Nathaniel had to admit that being so closely connected to the djinni’s essence created an irrevocable bond between them; he often felt as though a part of him was missing whenever Bartimaeus rested in the Other Place. There were so many things about Bartimaeus and Spirits in general that Nathaniel wanted to learn, and the snarky djinni was more than willing to divulge this information to him and Kitty in his own time. The trio still argued constantly, but their words were now only full of playful banter; a mutual understanding between them assured that no one truly wanted to hurt each other anymore.

It was during one of Bartimaeus’ visits that Nathaniel had been tasked to go down to the government vaults and locate an item of interest for Internal Affairs to review. Kitty wanted to help, and her new position in the government, as well as her close relationship with Nathaniel, allowed her to aid him with this task. While Kitty never wanted to be too embroiled in politics, she found success and a sense of worth as the official liaison between the members of Parliament and the common people. Nathaniel had been extremely vocal about Kitty’s efforts in helping take down Nouda, giving Kitty a notoriety that allowed her to have a hand in a lot more things than would normally be expected from her job title alone.

Thus, the trio found themselves down in the dusty government vaults. Kitty immediately set to work rifling through boxes upon their arrival and, seeing as she was on a mission, Nathaniel and Bartimaeus knew not to get in her way unless she asked for assistance.

“Wait, I might not need your help after all!” Kitty suddenly exclaimed. With a grunt of effort, she pushed herself back onto her feet. A circular object was clutched in her right hand, barely wider than the length of her palm. It was wrapped in a black cloth that had begun to fall off in one place, revealing an outer edge to the grey disc laced with an intricate pattern.

“Those are runes!” Nathaniel said excitedly, peering closely at the exposed edge. “Like from a summoning circle, but… off, somehow.”

“ _Interesting,”_ Bartimaeus agreed, his golden eyes lighting up with curiosity.

Kitty laid the disc on top of another box and carefully pulled the cloth away, revealing a scrying glass covered in strange markings on the outer circle. The three of them stared at the disc, trying to decipher what it was and, more importantly, what it was used for.

“It seems like a combination of runes for a typical summoning, some Ptolemaic markings of a reverse summoning circle, and…” Nathaniel wrinkled his nose in confusion, pointing to a symbol scratched near the edge of the disc. “…something else. I’m not sure what that symbol means. Bartimaeus, care to enlighten us?”

“What, that one?” Bartimaeus raised an eyebrow. “That’s the Greek word for ‘stay!’ Come on, Nat; this is kids’ stuff!”

“No, not _that_ one!” Nathaniel jabbed his finger a little closer. “ _That_ one!”

“The Egyptian symbol for water?”

“No!”

“The Greek word for-”

 _“I can read Greek!”_ Nathaniel let out a growl of frustration. Bartimaeus knew just how to push his buttons, _especially_ when he wasn’t in the mood for it. The slightly upward tilt of the djinni’s mouth made Nathaniel glare harder. “ _This_ symbol right _here.”_

For a second, dead silence filled the room. Nathaniel swiveled between Kitty and Bartimaeus’ shocked expressions, eventually casting his gaze downwards to where his index finger pressed firmly against the grey disc. Another beat of silence passed, and then Kitty began to shout.

Nathaniel couldn’t hear her words clearly, for his mind was solely focused on his hand currently being pulled into the center of the disc. The rest of his arm followed suit, flattening and twisting as if it were liquid being pulled down a drain. He felt only a numb tingling sensation, and for that he was grateful. If he was about to die, he’d rather it be fast and painless.

A tug on Nathaniel’s other hand made him glance back to find Bartimaeus clutched onto him with an iron grip. The djinni pulled as hard as he could, and this _did_ cause Nathaniel much discomfort; he felt as though his arm might be ripped out of its socket. Kitty firmly grasped him around the waist and tried to aid Bartimaeus in moving Nathaniel away from the dangerous object.

But the pull of the disc was far stronger than the combination of a determined human and a powerful spirit. Before he could utter any poignant final words, the rest of Nathaniel’s body was sucked into the disc and the world went black around him.

***

When Nathaniel opened his eyes, his first thought was that the afterlife looked extremely dull. He’d expected white, pearly gates or some other fantastical sight, but the area he laid in was dark, dingy, and only marginally warmer than the government vaults. He felt a pressure upon him and turned his head to see Kitty laying on his back, arms still clamped tightly around his waist. Her eyes were shut, face twisted in an expression of fear and determination.

“Kitty?” Nathaniel said quietly. He made a move to stand and realized that Bartimaeus’ hand remained tightly around his own. The magician gave a small sigh of relief; if the djinni was present, it meant that Nathaniel was still alive. It also meant that they weren’t completely defenseless.

“It amazes me how you continue to do such _stupid_ things after all this time,” Bartimaeus commented dryly, his eyes glowing in the dim light as he wrenched his hand back. His intense glare made Nathaniel grimace; he could tell Bartimaeus was legitimately upset with him.

“I agree, and we need to have a serious talk about that again... but that’s not our main concern right now,” Kitty said, disentangling herself from Nathaniel. Bartimaeus stood and held out his hands; Nathaniel grabbed one, Kitty took the other, and in one swift motion, the djinni pulled them both to their feet. As the trio examined their surroundings, they realized a rather startling fact:

They were not alone.

A pudgy boy sat at one of the desks that formed a semi-circle around the room. He had round spectacles, wide, bright blue eyes, and a pale-lipped mouth that hung open like a fish. His gaze swiveled to each member of the trio, trying to take them all in at once.

“Oh, uh… hello!” Nathaniel quickly regained his composure, straightening out his shirt and puffing himself up like a person with authority. He flashed a smile, but the boy simply stared. Nathaniel noted that he appeared to be in his mid-teens. The magician took a step forward and extended a hand. “We apologize for the intrusion but… we seem to have found ourselves here accidentally.”

“…I can see that,” the boy responded, slowly getting to his feet. The trio watched him intently as his eyes flickered to a door at the other end of the room. “And how _exactly_ did you end up here?”

“Well…” Nathaniel trailed off, wondering how much he could reveal. His work within the government vaults was top secret and couldn’t be shared with just _anyone_ he came across.

“Magic,” Bartimaeus said, and Nathaniel snapped his head towards him. The djinni wore an indecipherable expression, though Nathaniel could tell by his posture—arms crossed, hip jutting out slightly, eyes scanning the boy up and down—that Bartimaeus was sizing this kid up to determine how much of a threat he was.

“…Magic, huh?” The boy looked mildly offended as he removed his glasses and rubbed them furiously on the bottom of his sweatshirt. “Right. Well… I know someone who’s quite skilled in magic, so… I’m just going to pop upstairs and find him.”

The boy calmly repositioned his glasses onto his nose. Then, with a surprising burst of speed, he suddenly bolted for the door. Kitty took off after him, but the boy was already too far ahead of her and slammed the door in her face. Kitty smacked a fist against it with a growl of frustration, while Nathaniel looked at Bartimaeus questioningly.

“Why didn’t you go after him?!” he asked. The djinni shrugged.

“He’s just a human,” Bartimaeus responded. “Maybe he’s getting help, maybe he’s getting the authorities. If he causes trouble when he comes back, I’ll take care of him. Right now, our most important task is to try to find a way out of here. Since that disc was obviously a portal, I suggest we see if there’s a matching one somewhere in this room.”

Nathaniel pursed his lips but couldn’t argue with Bartimaeus’ logic. He glanced at Kitty, who had already busied herself with trying to pick the door lock with a hairpin pulled from one of her jacket pockets. Nathaniel sighed and turned back to Bartimaeus; with a nod, they began their search for a way home.


	2. Chapter 2

It didn’t take long for Kitty to pick the lock and open the door just wide enough to peer through, revealing a small hallway leading to a rising spiral staircase. The bespectacled boy was nowhere in sight.

“Well, we have a way out now,” Kitty said with a small grin. On the floor she found a wooden wedge; with a few kicks, she secured it under the door to keep it from closing back upon them.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Bartimaeus exclaimed. “I thought we’d be trapped in here _forever!_ It’s not like I could break down the door—or a wall—at any moment with a light flick of my wrist…”

“Shut up,” Kitty snapped, stomping over to the djinni and punching him in the shoulder. Bartimaeus clutched his arm with a dramatically fake expression of pain, to which Kitty rolled her eyes and directed her attention on Nathaniel. “Find that disc yet?”

“No,” Nathaniel responded with a frown, gazing at a display case of various objects situated behind one of the desks. Nothing looked remotely like the grey disc with strange markings that had transported them to this basement. “You’d think it would be right here as another access point, but… it’s not.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t detect any magical artifacts down here either,” Bartimaeus added, mirroring Nathaniel’s frown. “I can’t detect _any_ magic, actually, which makes me more uneasy than if the room were littered with defenses. What self-centered magician _doesn’t_ surround a bunch of their rusty old knickknacks with at least the simplest of protection?”

“It’s very odd, I agree,” Nathaniel said. He ran his hand over the edge of the large display case, as if he could find a hidden magical defense by touching it. When nothing happened, he let his hand fall with a sigh. “I suppose we ought to look elsewhere in the house; maybe we can find that boy and convince him to give us some information.”

“Want me to go get him?” Bartimaeus asked, flexing a hand that shifted into a gargoyle’s claw before Nathaniel’s eyes. The magician shook his head.

“No; you need to stay with us. I don’t want to be wandering around aimlessly without some form of protection.”

“Sure, I’ll be your muscle in case anyone tries to rough you up.” Bartimaeus transformed his hand back into a human’s and squared his shoulders, standing as tall and imposing as he could in Ptolemy’s fourteen-year-old form. “Kitty will be fine on her own, but you’ll _definitely_ need help, oh master of mine; what if someone were to throw a pillow at you? A blow from that sort of dangerous object would knock you out cold before you could blink.”

Nathaniel scowled as Kitty let out a snort of laughter.

“Let’s get moving,” the magician said with a huff of annoyance, pointedly ignoring Bartimaeus’ comment as they followed Kitty to the door.

Quietly, Kitty pushed the door open, wary of a sudden attack. However, the hallway was just as clear as before, so Kitty began the slow climb up the spiral staircase. The trio’s footsteps rang dully against the metal, making them flinch; surely someone must be able to hear them coming. They reached another door at the top of the stairs and Kitty glanced over her shoulder, hand resting gently against the knob.

“Ready?” she whispered. Nathaniel nodded, his face steely with determination. Bartimaeus stood close behind him, one hand held out at his side with fingers slightly curled, poised to summon a blast of fire at a split-second’s notice. His other hand hovered just above Nathaniel’s shoulder, ready to pull him out of harm’s way. 

Kitty took a deep, calming breath and twisted the doorknob, revealing another hallway as empty as the one leading back to the basement. Kitty motioned for her companions to follow and took a step forward, swiveling her gaze left and right. She was so focused on looking around that she failed to notice the combat boot that shot out and snagged her left foot. Kitty immediately fell forward with a gasp of surprise; before she could stand, Nathaniel and Bartimaeus landed on top of her, tripped up by each other. The basement door slammed shut behind them with a bang.

Nathaniel felt Bartimaeus’s weight shift off him and then the djinni cried out, as if in _real_ pain. Nathaniel’s heart instantly speed up at the sound and he quickly righted himself, only to find his group surrounded by three people pointing very sharp, shining rapiers at their faces.

“They may lack magical defenses, but they’re still somewhat dangerous; those things are pure silver,” Bartimaeus murmured at Nathaniel’s side, eying a smoldering part of his shoulder where a blade had nicked him.

“Who are you?” said one of the people with the rapiers. He was a tall boy with dark, focused eyes and black hair coifed expertly over his forehead. His face was set in a questioning expression, though he gave off an aura of utmost confidence, as if he were in complete control of the situation.

“…My name is John,” Nathaniel responded slowly, glancing at the other people surrounding him. One was the pudgy boy from before, his slightly-shaking rapier trained on Bartimaeus. The boy tried to keep his face calm, but his eyes were full of intrigue as they fixated on the small trail of smoke rising from Bartimaeus’ arm while the djinni’s essence healed itself.

“This is Kitty, and this is… Bart,” Nathaniel went on, not wanting to use Bartimaeus’ true name; at the moment, on the first three planes the djinni appeared just as human as he did.

“Alright, that’s a start,” said the third member of the weapon-wielding trio. This was the only girl and the owner of the combat boots that brought Kitty, Nathaniel, and Bartimaeus to the ground in a matter of seconds. She wore a suspicious expression eerily similar to one that Kitty used to give Nathaniel before they really knew each other. “I’m Lucy, that’s Lockwood, and that’s George. Now, who _are_ you?”

“And how did you end up in our basement?” the tall boy named Lockwood added, raising a questioning eyebrow.

“Well…,” Nathaniel began, rapidly concocting a story that didn’t involve covert government missions. The fact that these three hadn’t immediately recognized him was a sign that these were probably commoners. Though the Makepeace Incident had dramatically increased Nathaniel’s fame for a time, magicians and commoners alike wanted to put the traumatic event behind them and, to his relief, Nathaniel’s pictures quickly faded from the newspapers. The two boys and the girl were obviously a few years younger than him, and Nathaniel reasoned that their parents had tried to keep them from knowing as many details about the near-destruction of the modern world as possible.

“I already told this one how we got here,” Bartimaeus said, jerking his thumb towards George. The boy instinctively jabbed his rapier like a startled rabbit, missing Bartimaeus’ finger by centimeters. The djinni narrowed his eyes. “Watch where you stab that thing! I could’ve lost a pinky!”

“George?” Lockwood questioned, turning his raised eyebrow upon the boy at his side. George used his free hand to push his glasses up his nose.

“Well… he gave me an answer, but it was so ridiculous I didn’t think it needed repeating,” George responded with a shrug.

“And that answer would be…?” Lucy prompted, gesturing with her rapier for the boy to go on. Kitty eyed the tip of the blade as it passed closely by her nose.

“Magic,” George said in the same simple tone Bartimaeus had used earlier. His companions turned their unconvinced gazes to the trio on the floor.

“ _That’s_ the best excuse all three of you could come up with?” Lucy said, sounding exhausted. “’Magic?’”

“Look, I know how you probably feel about that sort of stuff,” Kitty finally spoke up. She slowly got to her feet, holding her palms up in a gesture of peace. Lucy’s rapier remained steadily trained on her as she rose. “I get it, _trust me;_ I’d love to pretend magic doesn’t exist either. But, unfortunately, that’s the sort of messed up world we live in and the sooner you come to accept that, the easier it’ll be to overcome it.”

Lucy blinked at her, face twisted in an expression of confusion. Kitty gave her an easy smile, trying to convince her that she meant no harm. Nathaniel and Bartimaeus slowly got to their feet as well, under the scrutiny of George and Lockwood.

“They’re all mad,” George murmured, leaning towards Lockwood conspiratorially. Lockwood shook his head lightly, hooking his rapier back into his belt.

“Maybe not; I think there’s something being lost in translation here,” the tall boy said, matching Kitty’s easy smile. “When you say ‘magic’… you mean ‘supernatural,’ right?”

“…No,” Kitty said with a frown. “I mean ‘magic.’ Summoning circles, Spirits, that sort of thing.”

Lockwood, Lucy, and George remained silent at this, studying their uninvited guests with varying degrees of interest and wariness. Nathaniel noted that, while George had quickly copied Lockwood in putting his rapier away, Lucy still gripped hers tightly, though it was pointed at the floor.

“John,” Bartimaeus said slowly, leaning towards Nathaniel and Kitty. “Something is _very_ wrong here.”

“Obviously,” Nathaniel snapped back, more harshly than intended. The uncertainty of the situation was setting his nerves on edge.

“I’m being serious.” Everyone looked at Bartimaeus. His face was a mask of practiced calm, though his golden eyes betrayed his unease. “I don’t detect any magic, but… there’s definitely something _else_ around here.”

_Ooh, you’re quite a powerful one, aren’t you?_

Suddenly, Bartimaeus jerked his head towards a room off to the right, his eyes widening.

“Did you hear that?” he asked quietly. Nathaniel was about to reply that he hadn’t, when Lucy spoke up in a soft voice.

“Did _you?_ ” Her tone was full of cautious disbelief. Bartimaeus met her gaze, searching her face curiously.

“Was it the Skull?” Lockwood said, his voice cutting through the rising tension in the room.

“’The _Skull_?’” Kitty repeated uncertainly.

_The Skull… Yes, that’s what they call me nowadays. Not what I would have picked, but I can’t say it’s inaccurate._

Lucy and Bartimaeus both swiveled their heads towards the voice only they could hear. After a moment of silence, Lockwood cleared his throat.

“I think there are some things we all need to discuss,” he said. “Let’s move into the living room, where it’s a bit more comfortable. George, can you put on a pot of tea?” George nodded and scurried off towards the kitchen, happy to be temporarily free from the strange situation. Lockwood gave Nathaniel, Bartimaeus, and Kitty another smooth smile. “Follow me, please.”

Sparing a wary glance between each other, the magicians and djinni followed Lockwood out of the hall, Lucy trailing along behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

“So… this ‘magic’ you keep referring to,” Lockwood began once everyone had settled into their respective seats around the quaintly cluttered living room. “What exactly _is_ it? Can you describe it?”

“It’s the substance on which the world runs,” Nathaniel said, meeting Lockwood’s curious gaze with a measured one of his own. “In the simplest terms, it’s the use of incantations to summon spirits that are the foundation for keeping modern society working as it is. The world wouldn’t be the same without it.”

“Very poignant,” Bartimaeus commented, his lip quirked up in a smirk.

“…I see,” Lockwood said slowly, after waiting unsuccessfully for Nathaniel to elaborate.

“That sounds absolutely crazy, you know,” Lucy spoke up, legs crossed and bouncing rapidly with wary intrigue. 

“I suppose it might to someone unfamiliar with the concept,” Nathaniel admitted. “Though, no offence, but I’m unsure how someone in this day and age can know absolutely _nothing_ about magic—especially someone living in England.”

“That magic stuff is all hogwash.” Everyone’s eyes turned towards the doorway as George shuffled through with a tea tray precariously laden with six cups on saucers, six silver teaspoons, and a plate of biscuits. “We deal with the _supernatural._ ”

Nathaniel and Kitty frowned at him in unison. Bartimaeus, on the other hand, perked up and focused his gaze on a side table between Lucy and Lockwood.

_Supernatural, magic, it’s all the same to_ me; _whatever’s truly going on in this godforsaken world, it’s just plain_ weird.

Lucy looked to her left at the sound of the voice. On the table sat a large, cylindrical object covered in a blue and white handkerchief. Bartimaeus met Lucy’s gaze and smiled.

“Why do I get the feeling you should be part of the Resistance, Lucy?” he said, and Kitty startled at the name of her former group.

“What are you talking about?” Lucy asked, trying to keep her demeanor calm, although the excitement shone in her eyes. Finished with his task of handing out tea cups, George took a seat in a well-worn armchair and completed the circle of the house’s residents and guests.

“You can obviously hear something that no one else can,” Bartimaeus explained, gesturing towards the covered cylinder. Lucy’s jaw clenched.

“No one’s _ever_ been able to hear the Skull except me,” she responded. Her eyes narrowed. “So, sorry for the skepticism, but it’s hard for me to believe that you really _can._ ”

_Ooh, Lucy, possessiveness isn’t a good look on you. Am I not allowed to make new friends?_

“Shut up!” Lucy snapped at the cylinder. Nathaniel and Kitty exchanged a look, and with a huff of annoyance Lucy flung the cloth away, revealing a glass jar containing a brown skull encased in glowing green liquid. “I’m not crazy; I’m talking to _this._ ”

_Lucy, I’m offended! After all our time together, you still refer to me as an object?_

The Skull gave a wistful sigh that only two out of the six people in the room could hear. Lucy narrowed her eyes at the jar, while Nathaniel and Kitty exchanged another look of more dire concern.

“She’s telling the truth,” Bartimaeus piped up, noticing his companion’s cautious glances. “That jar holds a powerful entity that’s not able to be heard by a typical human ear.”

“Hold on, let’s… let’s get this situation straight,” Lockwood said, holding up a hand and gently setting his teacup down with the other. Though he’d been holding it since George gave it to him, he’d yet to take a sip. “Bart, you can actually hear the Skull talking?!”

“Yup.” Bartimaeus nodded. “I can see him too, though I doubt you can; he’s only visible on the fourth plane.”

“We _can_ see him sometimes,” Lucy said, a bit defensively, as though her territory were being trodden upon. “He makes hideous faces pressed up against the glass.”

“Well of course you can see _that_ —his essence keeps spilling onto the first plane.” Bartimaeus rolled his eyes, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. “I mean I can see his true form, although to be honest it’s nothing special—ooh, now _that’s_ quite a rude gesture! Be glad your delicate eyes couldn’t see _that._ ” Bartimaeus tutted and shook his head at the jar.

A cold silence blanketed the room.

“…Is it a spirit?” Nathaniel finally asked, breaking the tense atmosphere. Bartimaeus frowned, cocking his head sideways as he looked the invisible object up and down.

“Well… in a sense, I suppose; not something I’ve personally encountered, but there are thousands of spirits I’ve yet to come across in my time.”

_Spirit is another word for “ghost,” you know; I think you’re using it as a blanket term for something else that’s not human._ The Skull’s voice paused, as if for dramatic effect. _Maybe something like_ you?

At this declaration, Lucy jumped up from her chair, hand flying to the hilt of her rapier. Kitty’s defense response kicked in first and she stood quickly, fists held up as her current weapon. Nathaniel and Lockwood stood as well, hands held out as if to physically hold the girls away from each other.

“Whoa, hold on Luce!” Lockwood exclaimed, grasping her arm gently. She wrenched it out of his grip and pointed towards Bartimaeus, who sat coolly in his chair wearing a Cheshire grin.

“The Skull said he isn’t human!” Lucy said, her voice tight with fear.

“What?” Lockwood frowned. He glanced to George for guidance but found no help there; George’s face had paled to an unnatural grey as he stared fixedly at Bartimaeus. Lockwood clucked his tongue in annoyance and refocused on Lucy.

“I surely don’t know _what_ you’re talking about,” Bartimaeus responded coolly, shrugging.

_He’s not what he appears, Lucy,_ the Skull whispered. _I’ve been trying to figure him out, but I can’t quite pinpoint what’s wrong with him._

“Nothing is _wrong_ with me,” Bartimaeus snapped, annoyed. “Not to brag, but I’m a rather amazing being, if I do say so myself.”

“This isn’t the time for your ego to overpower you again,” Kitty hissed, exasperation temporarily masking the tense expression on her face.

“It doesn’t overpower me!”

“That’s _definitely_ not true.”

“Can we _please_ get back to the point?!” Lucy interjected. Her shoulders had relaxed some, but her hand still lingered at the hilt of her rapier.

“I assure you, Lucy, I’m just like you,” Bartimaeus said, smiling as genially as possible. Lucy narrowed her eyes.

“…Not that I’m one to doubt people at their word,” Lockwood spoke up hesitantly, “but… you _do_ have a very intense otherworldly glow about you.” Lockwood squinted, as if to demonstrate this fact. “I noticed it the moment I saw you, although that certainly doesn’t mean you’re not human; you’ve probably just been around something supernatural recently, right?”

He smiled at Bartimaeus, but it was a nervous expression. Lockwood was losing what little control of the situation he had, and the stress was apparent in his eyes.

Bartimaeus looked at Nathaniel, as if for guidance on how to respond, and then sighed; the pale pallor of the boy’s face told the djinni that his master would be of no help.

“You know what I think we all need?” George asked suddenly. Everyone startled, his presence having been forgotten due to his unusual silence. George clapped his palms on his knees derisively and stood up. “I think we all need to drink our tea and calm down a bit before moving forward; high emotions can lead to problems during an investigation, as Lockwood and Lucy are well aware.”

“George—” Lockwood began, but the boy ignored him.

“Here, let me reheat that; I’m sure it’s gone cold by now,” George continued, bending down to pick up Bartimaeus’ saucer, which was closest.

“Don’t worry about it,” Bartimaeus said, his eyes steadily tracking George’s movements.

“No, no, I insist—oops!”

Everyone gasped in surprise as the saucer in George’s hand tipped. A splash of tea and the little silver spoon fell into Bartimaeus’ lap before George steadied the cup. Lockwood was about to admonish George for his clumsiness when Bartimaeus suddenly hissed and batted the spoon away as if it were a hot coal.

“Oh no,” Nathaniel muttered, the little color left on his face fully draining away. The spoon had left a perfectly-shaped burn mark through Bartimaeus’ jeans and on his leg, which steamed as the djinni’s essence registered the shock of silver. Nathaniel spared a glance at Kitty, who shook her head, not knowing what to do next.

“Clever brat,” Bartimaeus said through clenched teeth, fire in his eyes.

“George?” Lucy questioned. She swallowed hard. “What’s happening?”

“Look at his leg,” George whispered, more fascination in his voice than fear. “That spoon was pure silver; it burned him just as it would a Visitor.”

“So… does that mean…?” Lockwood trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.

_Told you!_ A sing-song voice issued from the Skull in the jar. Lucy’s eyes flickered to it, then back to Bartimaeus. She licked her suddenly-dry lips and whispered:

“Yes, I think… I think he’s a ghost.”


End file.
